


Keep Me Warm

by angeloscastiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-28
Updated: 2013-05-28
Packaged: 2017-12-13 06:04:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/820871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angeloscastiel/pseuds/angeloscastiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel finds his first winter as a human unpleasant - until Dean helps him stay warm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep Me Warm

Castiel, it turns out, does not winter well.

It starts in October, when the mornings are that little bit crisper and the air outside slightly more bracing than usual, and Castiel sleeps in until ten whenever he can, cocooned in his blankets, and dons his old trench coat whenever he has to leave the bunker or work a case with Sam and Dean.

By November, when the wind is howling outside and the heating in the bunker is insufficient to heat such a massive space, Castiel is wearing his coat inside, wrapped in it as he sits hugging his knees on the couch. Dean and Sam barely notice – a lifetime of living on the road, spending winters in dodgy motels under threadbare blankets, has hardened them until they barely notice the seasons change.

Castiel is vocal in his discomfort. He grumbles when Dean or Sam come to drag him out of bed, stares incredulously when they wander around dressed only in jeans and plaid shirts, and complains loudly about humanity’s sensitivity to temperature fluctuations. At this point Sam sits him down to watch Doctor Who, and Dean doesn’t know why until Rose says “When he’s stressed, he likes to insult species.” Sam turns the DVD player off after this line, raises his eyebrows at Castiel, says “You are the Doctor,” and leaves while Dean’s nodding his head in silent appreciation.

There is a lull in cases in early December and Castiel decides he wants to watch all seven seasons of Doctor Who – “You’re right, Sam. I do relate to this _Doctor_ , he and I seem to have much in common.” – and he spends two days watching the first season bundled up in his coat until Dean takes pity on him and brings him a blanket. By season two Dean has joined Cas on the couch – “What? I like the one with the werewolf.” – and when Castiel is still shivering in front of The Shakespeare Code and Dean is thinking the world would be a simpler place if all witches were just weird alien things, he rolls his eyes and tells Cas to ‘C’mere’ and they huddle in front of the projector screen, “To keep you warm, you son of a bitch, you’re shaking like a fucking chihuahua.”

“For warmth,” Castiel echoes.

When he hears Sam come home, Dean wriggles away from Cas, says, “Not a word about the…cuddling…thing, okay?” and sprawls casually on the other side of the couch like he’s been there all afternoon.

He’d meant it almost jokingly, but Castiel acts like they’ve got a secret to hide, taking care not to sit too close to Dean while Sam’s around and avoiding eye contact, and it makes Dean think that they _do_ have a secret, even though he’s just keeping the guy warm in front of the TV for God’s sake.

From then on they develop a pattern of waiting until Sam leaves the room before shuffling closer together, and it’s so needlessly secretive, like they’re making out or something whenever Sam’s back is turned, and Dean hates to admit it but he enjoys having Cas so close, even though he’s cold and asks too many questions about every episode and can move in and out of Dean’s personal space without taking his eyes off the TV. And while it was Dean originally insisting this _cuddling thing_ was purely for warmth, he finds himself wishing Cas wasn’t as _practical_ as he is and there’s some element of affection in there as well, but Cas is not the affectionate type. He doesn’t hug – doesn’t understand the point of it, and somehow manages proximity without closeness.

Which bugs Dean more than it should.

He feels like things have gone far enough, however, one freezing night just before Christmas when Cas asks if he can share a bed with Dean, and Dean says “What? Cas, no,” because he knows now, knows how he feels about Cas and why he loves those cuddles on the couch, and he’ll be damned if he lets the guy sleep in his bed just for warmth.

“But it’s cold,” Castiel says.

“Yeah, guess what? You got a lot of winters left, man, better start getting used to ’em.”

“Dean.”

“I’m going to bed,” Dean says firmly, and he leaves without a backwards glance.

 

* * *

 

On Christmas day they gather on the couch – Dean, Cas, Sam, Kevin and Charlie – to watch the Doctor Who Christmas special, and during one of the commercial breaks Cas gets up to make popcorn, sitting back down close enough to Dean that he can feel the heat emanating from him and wriggling even closer, and all Dean can notice is that he’s _warm,_ Cas is fucking _warm_ for once, and whether it’s from the woollen jersey Sam got him for Christmas or the alcohol they’ve had or the warm pudding that Charlie brought with her  (“Don’t be impressed, guys, it’s from Walmart”) or the fact that the heating has finally kicked in, but Castiel is warm and he’s still cuddled up next to Dean, and Dean barely trusts himself to think _what if._

Dean and Cas are the last ones up, long after Sam and Kevin have retired and Charlie’s crashed on the couch, and Dean’s about to say goodnight to Cas as they reach the doorway of his room, but as he turns around Castiel is there, all up in his space in a way Dean knows is no mistake, and he swallows.

“Cas.”

“Dean,” Castiel returns, and his voice is rough and his icy eyes somehow smoldering, and _fuck_ if Cas is messing with him, but he has Dean pinned to the wall with his gaze and Dean wonders why he ever thought of Cas as a ‘little nerdy dude with wings’ because—

Kissing Cas is nothing like what Dean imagined, because he always pictured Cas as shy and hesitant and uncertain but he couldn’t have been more wrong, because Cas is kissing him with an urgency and a hunger and something bordering on aggression, and Dean wraps his arms around Cas’s waist, hands grabbing a scratchy handful of Christmas jersey.

“It’s cold,” Castiel says when they finally pull apart. “Will you keep me warm, Dean?”


End file.
